This invention generally relates to an anti-theft system for vehicles. More particularly, this invention relates to a system for inhibiting or preventing the theft of vehicle components by including a unique vehicle identifier on each component.
Vehicle theft is a substantial, widespread problem. Most often, when a vehicle is stolen it is dismantled into component parts, which are sold individually. An additional problem is that certain vehicle components, such as air-bags and stereos, are stolen from vehicles and later sold.
One attempt to reduce the ability to sell stolen vehicles and component parts has been to physically or mechanically etch a vehicle identification number onto certain portions of a vehicle. This approach has several shortcomings and drawbacks. First, physically etching in an identification number to a plurality of component parts typically proves prohibitively expensive. Further, physical etching is relatively easy for a thief to detect and, in many circumstances, alter. Moreover, there is no efficient way to verify that a particular component on a vehicle has a legitimate identification number without visually inspecting it, which may require removing that part from the vehicle. This makes the task of monitoring stolen parts prohibitively expensive.
This invention overcomes many of the short-fallings and drawbacks of the prior art. This invention provides an efficient method and system for identifying component parts of a vehicle. Moreover, a system designed according to this invention provides for easy monitoring for detecting stolen parts. Further, this invention includes a strategy for prohibiting a thief from altering an identification given to a component part, which discourages theft because it reduces the ability to sell a stolen part.